“We’ve got a lot of the same dudes,” first baseman Matt Olson told FOX Sports in the visitors’ clubhouse at Citi Field. “We have a lot of fun in here, maybe too much.” A year after a losing season, that looseness has the Atlanta Braves at 46-25, the best record in baseball in mid-June 2026.
The margin is thin. FOX Sports’ Deesha Thosar reported the Dodgers at 47-27, the Brewers at 44-26 and the Yankees at 44-27. In the NL East, though, Atlanta sat seven games clear of the Phillies, Mets, Nationals and Marlins.
From 76-86 to the top
The fall in 2025 was steep. The Braves had won the division six years running, 2018 through 2023, and the 2021 World Series. Then they went 76-86 and missed the postseason for the first time since 2017. Longtime manager Brian Snitker moved into an advisory role, and Walt Weiss, his bench coach for eight seasons, took over.
Weiss said he sensed the change in spring training. “It’s a group that likes to compete. They get along really well,” he said, adding that the culture works because “you gotta have the right people.”
Money did not buy the turnaround. The biggest offseason splash was reliever Robert Suarez, signed to a three-year, $45 million deal. Most of the coaching staff turned over, and former Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner has been credited with helping Atlanta post the lowest ERA in MLB, 3.29.
Familiar names, familiar form
The larger story is players rediscovering old form. Olson leads NL first basemen in FanGraphs’ wins above replacement at 2.5 with an .894 OPS. Ozzie Albies, who managed only a .671 OPS last year, again looks like an all-star hitter. Michael Harris II is on pace for a career-best season. Chris Sale has a 2.30 ERA in 13 starts, fifth among qualified starters, and opponents are hitting .215 against him.
The bullpen has the best ERA (2.82) and WHIP (1.11) in the majors. Iglesias, Suarez, Dylan Lee, Didier Fuentes and Dylan Dodd have a combined ERA of 1.26. At the plate, the Braves rank third in slugging (.424), and their run differential of +107 trails only the Dodgers (+143) and Brewers (+113).
Winning through injuries
They have done it while hurt. Ronald Acuna Jr. has gone on the injured list twice with a hamstring strain, and third baseman Austin Riley is batting .203. Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep have missed much of the year, and Spencer Strider was shut down again that Monday with inflammation in his right elbow.
“Our team has been great about meeting all the challenges of the season,” Weiss said. Olson put it his own way: “If you’re Mr. Serious all the time, you’ll go crazy.”
The race is far from settled. The Dodgers matched and passed Atlanta’s win total that week, after the Braves’ Tuesday game was suspended by weather. How the rotation copes without Strider may decide how long the pace holds.
